


Ogura Hyakunin Isshu: Hakuouki

by tootsuntodere (sweet_ricecake)



Category: Hakuouki
Genre: Drabble Collection, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-22
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2018-03-08 14:20:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3212318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweet_ricecake/pseuds/tootsuntodere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of Hakuouki drabblesbased on the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu anthology.</p>
<p>One hundred poems, one hundred drabbles: Each focus on a specific character or ship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1-10

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hakuouki, any of the poems of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu nor its translations.

 

**Ogura Hyakunin Isshu: Hakuouki**

 

**By too-tsun-to-dere**

 

**1.**

 

_“Coarse the rush-mat roof_

_Sheltering the harvest-hut_

_Of the autumn rice-field;--_

_And my sleeves are growing wet_

_With the moisture dripping through.”_

-       **_Tenchi Tenno_**

 

          The medicine box he carried seemed to have lost its weight as Hijikata walked home that day. The moon was beginning its placid journey across the cobalt expanse of the sky, illuminating the rice fields in such a way as to make the delicate stalks shine like a million blades against the dark red of Autumn’s scenery. Hijikata dreamed of himself and Kondou, no longer farmers, leading as many warriors to battle as those rice blades.

 

**2.**

 

. “ _Spring, it seems, has passed,_

_And the summer come again;_

_For the silk-white robes,_

_So 'tis said, are spread to dry_

_On the "Mount of Heaven's Perfume."_

-       **_Jito Tenno_**

 

The white sheets being hanged to dry danced with the wind, and he watched through the frame provided as a single bead of sweat rolled down Kosuzu’s neck, coming to a rest at the dip of her delicate clavicles like a pearl, while she scrubbed hard at his paint-stained haori. The sound of the water splashing against the bucket was soothing and Ibuki offered a silent prayer of gratitude to the Gods that allowed him this blessing at such turbulent times.

 

**3.**

 

_“Ah! the foot-drawn trail_

_Of the mountain-pheasant's tail_

_Drooped like down-curved branch!--_

_Through this long, long-dragging night_

_Must I keep my couch alone?”_

-       **_Kakinomoto no Hitomaro_**

 

Kondou Isami had fallen victim to the most unforgiving of all bewitchery. He, who had always been a very self-possessed and disciplined man whenever it came to carnal matters, had been changed by the nights spent in his wife’s company, tied up in soft embraces and heated kisses. The nights spent at headquarters quickly became stained with a longing that Kondou endured diligently, carefully piling the hours on his heart so that later, when Otsune rocked gently against him, they were turned to happiness.

 

**4.**

_“Going out on Tago Bay_

_when I look_

_it is pure white;_

_on the high peak of Fuji_

_snow is falling.”_

-       **_Yamabe no Akahito_**

The pregnant swell of the sky was the only witness to how often they had gazed simultaneously at each other’s direction while on opposite shores, the sea spraying insistently upon their faces, as if calling out to the tears neither would release.

 

**5.**

 

_“Deep in the mountains_

_walking on fallen leaves_

_the cry of the stag_

_when I hear its voice_

_autumn is melancholy.”_

-       **_Sarumaru Tayu_**

When the Shinsengumi came for the Guardians of The Imperial Tomb, Heisuke quickly comprehended what Saitou’s true motives for joining Ittou had been, and the drawing of his sword against his friends and former comrades was a movement of infinite loneliness that brought to Shinpachi’s mind the slow fall of a single dry leaf.

 

**6.**

 

_“If the "Magpie Bridge"--_

_Bridge by flight of magpies spanned,--_

_White with frost I see:--_

_With a deep-laid frost made white:--_

_Late, I know, has grown the night.”_

-       **_Chunagon Yakamochi_**

Kazama Chikage was not one to indulge in wishful thinking. Despite that unchangeable fact, the year after he had told Chizuru he would wait until she came to him of her own volition, the Oni found himself writing a wish on a delicate slip of paper, asking that Orihime and Hokiboshi lent her their bridge just that one time to shorten their distance, as the fireworks celebrating Tanabata’s Day burned in the sky like shattered gems.

 

**7.**

 

_“When I look abroad_

_O'er the wide-stretched "Plain of Heaven,"_

_Is the moon the same_

_That on Mount Mikasa rose,_

_In the land of Kasuga?”_

-       **_Abe no Nakamaro_**

Amidst the trappings of the predatory aberration that was Kaoru’s mind existed a homesickness that yearned for nothing more than a now burnt house, once full of servants, where loving parents would kiss him and his sister goodnight and, when the nights were warm and the moon was like a bow, the shoji door would be left open just enough so they could admire its ethereal glow.

 

**8.**

 

_“My hermitage lies_

_South-east of the capital,_

_The only place for me to live._

_This world, the Mount of Sorrow_

_People have come to call it.”_

-       **_Kisen Hoshi_**

The wound on his arm became a worse injury: an infection of the soul that steadily exiled him from even the smallest, simplest joy of daily living. Sannan had hoped that the Ochimizu would remedy that, but something unholy can only bring about despair. And despair Sannan did, bitterly, as his own self cracked like fine china.

 

**9.**

“ _So the flower has wilted_

_During the long spring rains,_

_Just as my beauty has faded_

_During my forlorn years_

_In this world.”_

-       **_Ono no Komachi_**

They made love upon a bed of wildflowers and did not stop even as the rain began to fall, enjoying the act of dressing one another while exchanging kisses and love vows when it ended. The rain hardened then, and Chizuru smiled mischievously, running ahead of him as he laughed and gave chase. She was laughing too, until his strangled gasp made her turn just in time to see his form slowly became ash and be washed away by the water. His dying eyes haunted Chizuru until she expired as well.

 

**10.**

 

_“Truly, this is where_

_Travelers who go or come_

_Over parting ways,--_

_Friends or strangers,--all must meet;_

_'Tis the gate of "Meeting Hill.”_

-       **_Semimaru_**

Shinpachi passed an old, happy man and his fallen comrades, who had watched over him and his family, were there to tenderly hold and greet him as he crossed over that last, great threshold to join them in tran


	2. 11-20

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hakuouki, any of the poems of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu nor its translations.

 

**Ogura Hyakunin Isshu: Hakuouki**

**By too-tsun-to-dere**

 

**11.**

 

_“Over the wide sea_

_Towards its many distant isles_

_My ship sets sail._

_Will the fishing boats thronged here_

_Proclaim my journey to the world?.”_

-       **_Ono no Takamura_**

 

His body was no longer the graceful, dark-colored instrument for battle. Now it rested in rigidness and a white shroud that enveloped him in as many layers as a spider would use to trap its prey. From a place that was neither Heaven nor Hell, he witnessed as the recipient that once was Yamazaki Susumu drop silently through the air before meeting the sleet-gray waters of the Japanese sea.

  **12.**

 

“ _Let the winds of heaven_

_Blow through the paths among the clouds_

_And close their gates._

_Then for a while I could detain_

_These messengers in maiden form.."_

-       **_Sojo Henjo_**

 

Hijikata’s hand as he worked his wakizashi through the unfortunate geisha’s soft locks, cutting the luxurious hair close to the skin, was firm and yet strangely delicate. She cried silently, as he prayed for some kind of divine intervention that would turn the sad fate that awaited her into good fortune.

 

**13.**

 

_“From Tsukuba’s peak_

_Falling waters have become_

_Mina’s still, full flow:_

_So my love has grown to be_

_Like the river’s quiet deeps”_

-       **_Yozei In_**

 

Saitou’s silence betrayed none of the intensity of his affections. No, it were his small gestures and words that gave them away, but few were perceptive enough to conclude anything from them and not one of that few was as reckless as to tease him about it. So he was left to serenely love Chizuru and to sadden, not bitterly, that her own feelings lay elsewhere.

 

**14.**

 

_“Like Michinoku prints_

_Of the tangled leaves of ferns,_

_It is because of you_

_That I have become confused;_

_But my love for you remains.”_

-       **_Kawara no Sadaijin_**

His lord and lady had left her in his care, and from the loyalty and admiration that Koudou felt for them – which naturally extended to her - a paternal love was also born. That love was finally able to bring down his misguided desires that Chizuru live in a way that was not her own and the doctor’s final joy was hearing the girl say he was her real father.

 

**15.**

 

_“It is for your sake_

_That I walk the fields in spring,_

_Gathering green herbs,_

_While my garment’s hanging sleeves_

_Are speckled with falling snow..”_

-       **_Koko Tenno_**

Chizuru’s teeth shattered slightly as she exited their secluded hut. Early spring days were harsher in Aizu, but Saitou’s cold was worsening and she needed to fix him some sort of medicine. When she came back, the hem and sleeves of her kimono were heavy with dampness and he apologized for recklessly waiting out for her in the cold the day before. Chizuru’s eyes were tender even as she took the opportunity to chide him once more.

 

**16.**

 

_“Though we are parted,_

_If on Mount Inaba’s peak_

_I should hear the sound_

_Of the pine trees growing there,_

_I’ll come back again to you.”_

-       **_Ariwara no Yukihira_**

The glittering cover of snow overtook the usually lush scenery of Ezo as swiftly as solitude reigned over Hijikata. A man may act certain that his actions are for the best and still anguish over taking them. It was then that Chizuru colored his existence again like the enduring evergreens of winter, as if to remind him of life itself.

 

**17.**

 

_“Even when the gods_

_Held sway in the ancient days,_

_I have never heard_

_That water gleamed with autumn red_

_As it does in Tatsuta's stream_

-       **_Ariwara no Narihira_**

The sensation of steel perforating a human body reverberated to Okita’s very core. He would never forget how resistance and softness infused during that one act and as Tonouchi’s blood slowly washed down from the bridge and fell to the river below, the water was dyed a red that appeared black to his frozen green eyes.

 

**18.**

 

_“The waves are gathered_

_On the shore of Sumi Bay,_

_And in the gathered night,_

_When in dreams I go to you,_

_I hide from people's eyes.”_

-       **_Fujiwara no Toshiyuki_**

His perception of self was now a maelstrom that drowned Heisuke into the reflection of his own monstrosity. During the day, as Heisuke slept, the young man dreamt of frantically running away from the child he once was, ashamed of revealing what would become of both of them.

 

**19.**

 

“ _Even for a time_

_Short as a piece of the reeds_

_In Naniwa's marsh,_

_We must never meet again:_

_Is this what you are asking me?”_

-       **_Lady Ise_**

After months of courtship and ever-growing feelings he believed to be one-sided, Kazama had thought to show Sen kindness upon releasing her of the bargain struck so that Yukimura Chizuru be left alone of his advances, assuring the princess she would no longer be forced to endure his presence. Kazama hadn’t expected her to strike him with her fan –though he was certainly used to it by then – nor for Sen’s tearful scolding and confession. So shocked was he that, in a rare display of romanticism, the blonde oni vowed to compensate for that moment everyday of their lives.

 

**20.**

 

_“In this dire distress_

_My life is meaningless._

_So we must meet now,_

_Even though it costs my life_

_In the Bay of Naniwa.”_

-       **_Prince Motoyoshi_**

It was true, then, that the body was taken by a comforting stupor as it slowly progressed into death. Even so, or perhaps even more so, Sanosuke’s spirit battled against the venomous peace and cried out for more time, just enough of it so that he could fulfill his promise to Chizuru and not allow her warm eyes to be stained by sorrow once more. His eyes were wide open even after that last duel was lost, and Shiranui had to delicately lower his cold eyelids.


End file.
